


Joyfully Yours

by MrMich



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Anniversary, Candlenights, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, M/M, Old Married Couple, literally old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:49:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21815449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrMich/pseuds/MrMich
Summary: Sixteen years after the Day of Story and Song, Merle still has no idea what to get his family for Candlenights. He’s known most of them for over a hundred years now, and the rest for a little over fifteen, but his presents are terrible and he knows it. Which is precisely why he can’t wait for the gift giving part of Candlenights to roll around.His presents have always been fairly mediocre, but this year, he thinks, he’s really knocked it out of the park.
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Carey Fangbattle/Killian, Davenport/Merle Highchurch, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 73





	Joyfully Yours

Sixteen years after the Day of Story and Song, Merle still has no idea what to get his family for Candlenights. He’s known most of them for over a hundred years now, and the rest for a little over fifteen, but his presents are terrible and he knows it. Which is precisely why he can’t wait for the gift giving part of Candlenights to roll around. 

His presents have always been fairly mediocre, but this year, he thinks, he’s really knocked it out of the park.

The celebration is being held at Kravitz and Taako’s place this year, and Taako won’t let anyone forget it. He’s been bragging about how amazing this year is going to be. How it's going to be even better than the last one he threw, with all new recipes and macarons improved far beyond the ones before. 

It had taken a while before the IPRE crew all felt comfortable with each other again, but Killian, Carey, Mavis, and Angus - Mookie tended to try his best, but it never quite worked - gamely stopped some of the earlier Candlenights celebrations from going sour. With the help of the newest additions to their family acting as almost a buffer, the IPRE crew learned to make things work over time.  
  
Though Candlenights always descended into chaos, it eventually became the good kind of chaos, with Lup blasting fireballs into the air and Magnus grabbing everyone and throwing them into the air and Davenport casting illusions as practical jokes as everyone else either joins in the fun or takes cover. 

“Are you ready yet, Merle?” Davenport called out from the front room of their house. “Barry’s gonna come by in a literal minute!”

“Uhh, not quite!” Merle called back from their bedroom, quickly shoveling the pile of gift wrapped presents he pulled from his closet into his arms, careful to not let any get tangled in his beard or any of the rings braided into it. “Gimme just a hot second!” 

Still holding the towering pile of gifts, he waddled over to his bedside table and pulled out the last gift - the one he made for Davenport. Tucking that one into the pocket of his formal hawaiian shirt - which absolutely was a thing, _Taako_ , he hurried as fast as he could without dropping anything to Davenport, getting there just in time to hear the ripping sound of Barry tearing the fabric of reality as he traveled through the planes. “Hey, are you guys ready to go?” 

Not giving Merle a chance to suddenly remember anything they forgot and further delay their time, Davenport just nodded to Barry. If they really needed anything, they would have three very convenient teleporters that they could turn to, though Taako might fight against losing an extra set of hands in the kitchen. “We’re all set, Barry.” 

Barry smiled. “It looks really great this year. Don’t tell Taako that I said this, but it might be the best one yet.” He reopened the tear he’d made to travel through the planes and ushered them through to Taako’s massive house. 

It really was as spectacular as Barry had said, with extravagant decorations hanging from every wall and light fixture. It should have been tacky due to the sheer number of colors pinned everywhere, but Taako had somehow pulled it off, and it just felt comfortable and warm. After so many years spent together though, Davenport and Merle knew better than to outright complement the setup when Taako greeted them with a “Fucking finally! Never thought you two geezers would show. I mean, what, did you forget your dentures at home?”

“Oh, you know me, always gotta have my second pair of sharper teeth to chew through all that tough meat we’re gonna be eating.”

“Tough meat?!” Taako shouted, shrilly. “I have never once in my entire life cooked meat that was tough, _MERLE_.” 

Merle laughed and waved him off, going to greet the rest of the family and place all the gifts under the bush while Davenport patted Taako’s knee comfortingly. Davenport risked a small, “Looks good, Taako.” and watched Taako puff up in pride.

“Well of course it does! I mean, I, Taako, put it together. Quite frankly Cap’nport, I’m offended that you even felt the need to point it out.” He smiled widely at Davenport, the gap in between his front teeth showing, and bustled back to the kitchen, calling something back about how he was too busy to greet people at his own party.

Davenport chuckled quietly at the elf as he disappeared into the expansive kitchen and followed after Merle to finish greeting his crew. 

“Hey! How have you two old folks been,” Magnus shouted, though he, too, was looking a little on the older side, his crow’s feet wrinkling as he grinned broadly at the two of them. He wrapped the both of the up into a hug. “Happy Candlenights, Cap’nport, Merle. It’s good to see you guys again.”

Merle smacked his arm, almost dropping the presents in the process. “We went out for drinks two weeks ago, ya big lug, stop making it sound like we don’t make time for you. But Happy Candlenights right back atcha!” 

He looked over Magnus’s shoulder. “And that can’t be Ango, can it? You’re, what, twenty years old? And almost beefier than Magnus by this point. Honestly kid, it’s a scary look on you. Downright awful.” He shook his head in mock disappointment.

Angus rolled his eyes and smiled at Merle. “Actually, I’m twenty-six, but I think you already knew that, sir. You’ve been saying that every time you see me for the last five years. But Happy Hanukkah!” He pointed at the Candlenights bush they had that year, and at all the presents sitting around the base of it. “You can put the gifts there, just like every year, sir! Just in case you forgot in your old age.”

Merle, still hanging over Magnus’s shoulder, squinted at Angus. “Was that sass I just heard?”

Angus smiled angelically. “Oh, most certainly not, Merle!” 

Merle and Davenport both wiggled out of Magnus’s tight hug, Merle making the universal “I’m watching you” gesture at Angus while he looked like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. 

“Was that Dav and Merle I heard?” Lup came out of the kitchen where she’d been helping Taako with the cooking and hauled the both of them up into a football carry, one under each arm, smiling wide. “Happy Candlenights, you old badgers! I’d have hunted you down if you didn’t make it.” She motioned as if to give them noogies, but realized that with both her hands taken by holding them, she didn’t have an extra hand to do so. 

“Hey, Ango! Cast mage hand!” 

Angus laughed, casting a brilliant purple mage hand that gave Merle a solid noogie while Lup trapped him there. She waited for him to do the same to Davenport, but Angus only shrugged at her expectant expression. 

“I have too much respect for Davenport to do that to him,” he said mildly. 

“Fuckin’ called it!” She called out to the room at large. “Ango’s favorite is Davenport! Pay up, you losers!” She winked at Angus. “That’s an eight year bet that you just settled.”

“Hey, now!” Merle protested. “What about me, Agnes?”

“Nobody bet on you being the favorite, Merle, not even yourself!” Taako shouted from the kitchen, followed by some mild cursing. “And I cannot _believe_ , Angus McDonald! I should be your favorite! Me, Taako – I mean, when am I not someone’s favorite? Never, that’s when!” 

“But I gave you my grandfather’s knife!” Magnus threw in his two cents.

“Motherfuck, Angus McDonald. I trusted you, and you betray everything that I am,” Lucretia said, with a completely straight face. 

Carey jumped on top of Killian’s shoulders, laughing so hard that she almost slipped. “And what about your lesbian aunts!”

“It’s homophobic if we’re not your favorites,” Killian added, smiling. 

“Nearly everyone in this family is gay” Kravitz said, mildly offended that there was even the slightest implication of him being straight. “Though it’s definitely me and Taako who are the favorites,” he tacked on.

“It’s me, I’m his favorite!” Mookie yelled over everyone else, and Mavis just smiled and shook her head, pushing up her glasses from where they were slipping down.

Angus rolled his eyes at the antics of his family and said, “While I really like Davenport, he’s not my favorite of this family, and I am also not willing to disclose who is.” He grinned wickedly. “I definitely have a favorite though.”

This raised an unholy amount of noise and chaos as everyone started arguing over who was the actual favorite, citing past excursions with the young detective as evidence in their favor. It only ended when Magnus and Lup started wrestling each other over who was right and ended up taking almost everyone else down in the process. Davenport, who had been standing to the side and avoided the initial take down, climbed on top of everyone and struck a heroic pose on top of the tangled pile of his family, boldly stating to Angus, “I’ve defeated them all, which makes me the superior family member. I should be the favorite.”

The pile shifted under him as everyone wiggled around, now united in their effort to bring Davenport down, hands reaching up to grab at his ankles and taking him down, where everyone started fighting for dominance. 

After everything calmed down again, Mavis was the first to untangle herself, having gotten caught in the edges of the impromptu wrestling match the second round. She fixed her glasses so they weren’t crooked, and pulled Mookie out from under their dad. This, of course, caused Merle to flop down harder on top of Lucretia, who tried to kick at him but missed and hit Killian, who rolled on top of Carey, who tried to retaliate and ended up digging an elbow into Barry. In the end, everyone started scrambling to get revenge in a way that just ended up as a comedy of errors and the pile devolved into a second wrestling match. 

Taako came out of the kitchen, moving into the living room, and, when he saw everyone wrestling, turned his nose up at them. “Food is ready, you absolute heathens. It’s ‘bow down to Taako time’ and you all better get your asses up and get that good grub. Lup and I made the best goddamn holiday dinner you will ever fucking taste!” 

At the announcement that food was ready, everyone made pretty work of disengaging from the pile, taking a moment to resettle clothes and hair that had gotten twisted. 

Carey, who’s shirt had ended up backwards somehow, eyed Magnus, who was adjusting his binder. She caught his attention and smiled wickedly. “First one to food gets bragging rights!” she shouted, immediately vaulting over her wife to get a head start. Magnus took off right on her tail. They ended up tying on the short sprint to the kitchen, with everyone following quickly, eager to eat.

They all grabbed plates and glasses, Magnus and Carey piling all the food on top of each other just to get more on their plates, turning it into another small competition, this time to see who could get the most food onto their plates while Taako looked on in horror at the unholy combinations of food they were making in their efforts. 

Taako grabbed Kravitz’s shoulder and gestured wildly at Carey and Magnus while he bemoaned his beautifully made food. “They poured the soup over the casserole! Who even does that!” He turned to Kravitz. “Babe, I don’t care if they’re family, those two are going on the permanent uninvite list.”

Kravitz, after sixteen years of roughly the same thing happening, just nodded and rubbed Taako’s back. “Of course, dear,” he said consolingly. 

After getting their food and drinks, everyone scrambled to the living room to get to the most comfortable spots among all the chairs, couches, and loveseats that Taako and Kravitz had stuffed into their living room, all arranged in a semi-circle around the glowing Candlenights bush that was pushed up against the back wall.

Davenport had beaten everyone else to the massive red stuffed armchair that was almost unanimously thought of as the most comfortable. He smirked at Lucretia’s disappointment when she dashed over, precariously balancing her plate and drink, over only to see him already sitting it. 

“My win, this time, Lucretia.”

He grinned smugly at her as Merle waddled over, holding his own plate and glass, and heaved himself into the chair, tucking himself into Davenport’s side. He brushed a quick kiss over Davenport’s cheek with a “Thanks, Dav” and started eating as the rest of the seats filled up with their family. 

Soon enough, however, everyone finished dinner, and after lazing about digesting for a half hour, Lup, Taako, Carey, Magnus, and Mookie started eyeing the presents spread out in a beautiful array underneath the decorated bush.

“Presents!” shouted Mookie, quickly bolstered by Magnus and Lup as they jump out of their seats to pass out the gifts, as according to the family rules, no one can open presents until everyone has their own. 

By the end of the present sorting, everyone’s migrated to the ground, where it’s easier to reach and unwrap the large piles of gifts. 

As per personal tradition, Davenport and Merle always open each other’s gift first. 

Merle knows what Davenport’s gotten him even before he pulls out the ring box. At this point, so many years later, it had become a tradition, but Merle couldn’t help feigning surprise every year, so he puts on a suitably dramatic expression. At the corner of his vision, he could see Mavis rolling her eyes at his theatrics, and he grins just a little.

Davenport opened the box, revealing a thick gold band, etched with wonderfully intricate designs along the border, and said, “Happy tenth anniversary, Merle.”

Merle pushed the ring back towards Davenport as he did every year and gestured towards his beard. “Do you know how long it took me to braid it this morning? Too long! Sorry Dav, but you’re going to have to do it for me.” He smiled. “That’s just the way it’s gotta be.”

Davenport, having gotten the same demand from Merle the last nine anniversaries they’d had, untwisted the braids in Merle’s beard, combing through it delicately, pulling out the nine rings already braided in. 

He placed the rings into Merle’s hands, held out for that exact reason. Each of the rings was different. Some were thicker and small while others were thin and big, some had etchings like the newest ring, some were plain bands. Some looked shinier, less tarnished and scratched while the older ones looked a little worse for wear–the marks that come with being cherished for a long time.

Finally done taking each of them out, Davenport started braiding, calloused hands gently grabbing small chunks of Merle’s coarse hair and winding them together in elaborate patterns, slowly adding the rings as he went, in the order that he had given them to Merle. 

He was on the sixth anniversary ring when Taako noticed and let out a token holler of “Gross! Go be old and weird when we’re not all here!” belatedly tacking on a “Think of the kids!” as he smashed a pillow into Angus’s face, who complained that he was no longer a boy detective, but a 26-year-old young man detective.

Braiding the last one in, Davenport took in his husband of ten years, complete with a newly braided beard with ten rings woven in, and smiled. 

Merle grinned back at him before digging into his pocket where he had stashed Davenport’s present. “So, you know by now that I’m, uh, not the best at giving gifts. You’ve always appreciated everything I’ve given you so I don’t think that’ll be a problem, but you know, ten years isn’t a small thing! And that’s not even counting everything that came before we got married!” 

Merle brought the gift out, shielding it from view as he took one of Davenport’s hands and pressed the gift into it. “So I wanted to get something really nice, this year. And, you know, I think I really got this one.”

He let go of Davenport’s hand, revealing the brass compass he had gotten for Davenport that year. 

The cover was etched with a map of their original plane, made from memory, and there inscripted on the edge, in elegant gnomish script, it said, “Here’s to ten years of adventuring. Joyfully yours, Merle.”

Davenport traced his hands over the words. His eyes were a little wet at the corners, and he smiled warmly at Merle. “Yeah, Merle, this is a good one.”

Merle gestured at the compass. “Well, open it! There’s something else you gotta see.”

Davenport clicked open the cover, and on the inside was the beautifully made compass face. Davenport looked at the needles, confused when he saw an extra needle. Merle, seeing his confusion laughed. 

“I got a bit of magic done on this one, special made, right? Taako helped me with it—only a little, though. This needle doesn’t do any of that direction nonsense, it’s even better than that. This one will always point you home.” 

Davenport looked down at the needle again as it pointed straight at Merle. 

“Happy anniversary, Captain.”

“Happy anniversary, Merle.”

Davenport grabbed Merle’s hands and brought him in close, pressing a gentle kiss against his lips. They pulled away from each other and smiled, crows feet pulling a little deeper than they used to, hair a little more gray than earlier pictures show.

Ten years together. 

They were shaken out of their reverie by some of the noise and bustle of their friends as the unwrapping started winding down. Merle coughed. 

“Uh, I’m going to go see how Mavis and Mookie are doing.” He gently let go of Davenport’s hand with a last smile and grabbed his drink, walking over to his kids. As soon as he perched on the edge of the couch, Mookie began excitedly presenting him with all the gifts he got while Mavis looked at her brother and father fondly. 

Davenport looked around at his family as they all celebrated together, talking and laughing. It had taken them a while to get to a point where they could joke and enjoy themselves without the past hanging over their heads and clouding their thoughts, but Davenport wouldn’t trade those days for anything.

It had been hard, but it had gotten them here. 

His eyes slipped back over to Merle, who noticed this time, and he picked up his drink and raised it in a toast.

Merle returned the gesture, almost saluting Davenport, and took a drink.

“To family.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Candlenights, all! Hope your holidays are good this year!


End file.
